Commentary

How strong fathers are a positive influence on their daughters

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An interview with Dr. Meg Meeker! (H/T Andrew)

Questions answered in the interview:

  • Q: Why are fathers so important?
  • Q: What are fathers doing wrong?
  • Q: What are fathers doing right?
  • Q: Can an absent or irresponsible father make up for lost time?
  • Q: What is the most important thing a father should know?
  • Q: Any tips for being the kind of father a daughter really needs?

Excerpt:

Fathers carry an authority in children’s eyes that is different from their mother’s. Fathers are also pivotal in the development of a healthy sexuality in a daughter’s life. Girls who have a good relationship with their dads are shown to: have a higher self-esteem, be less likely to become sexually active at an early age, less likely to experience depression, less likely to develop an eating disorder and typically have a higher GPA in high school. Also, the most effective way to bolster a girl’s self esteem is through getting physical affection from her father.

There is a lot of useful information summarized in this short little interview.

Videos

New Michele Bachmann video on the future of Obamacare

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Wow, she’s got a tan and she’s looking prettier than ever!

She’s my pick for the Republicans in 2012.

Mentoring

A hero’s legacy: Happy birthday, William Wilberforce

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August 24th was the 250th birthday of the official hero of the Wintery Knight blog, William Wilberforce.

Chuck Colson wrote about it. (H/T Andrew)

Excerpt:

Today marks the 250th birthday of William Wilberforce, the Christian statesman who, for 18 arduous years, led the crusade against the abominable British slave trade. And I can think of no better gift I could give my listeners than to tell you about some of the traits that made Wilberforce a man who profoundly changed history-and whose legacy so profoundly shaped my life.

To speak of Wilberforce is to speak of biblical worldview in action. When Wilberforce, one of the youngest members of Parliament, came to Christ, he contemplated leaving office and becoming a clergyman.

Thankfully, William Pitt, who went on to be Great Britain’s youngest prime minister, convinced him otherwise. In a letter to his dear friend, Pitt wrote: “Surely the principles as well as the practice of Christianity are simple and lead not to meditation only, but to action.”

And indeed, for Wilberforce, Christian faith meant action. He could not stand idly by and see the imago Dei of each person, the image of God, abused. His fiercely unpopular crusade against the slave trade ravaged his health and cost him politically. He endured verbal assaults and was even challenged to a duel by an angry slave-ship captain.

And when the French Revolution began, what had been merely an unpopular position became a dangerous one. As cries of liberty, equality, and fraternity erupted across the Channel, Wilberforce and his fellow abolitionists who believed so strongly in human equality were suddenly viewed with suspicion by the British people.

Nonetheless, Wilberforce persevered year after year. Writing about whether to give up the fight, Wilberforce notes, “a man who fears God is not at liberty” to do so.

What Christianity teaches is that every person in the world was made by God for the purpose of responding freely to him. Your job as a Christian is to help everyone who wants to freely respond to God to do so.